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Liberal Democracy's Crisis of Confidence

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Liberal Democracy's Crisis of Confidence Liberal Democracy’s Crisis of Confidence Richard Wike, Janell Fetterolf Journal of Democracy, Volume 29, Number 4, October 2018, pp. 136-150 (Article) Published by Johns Hopkins University Press For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/705724 No institutional affiliation (18 Oct 2018 14:30 GMT) LIBERAL DEMOCRACY’S CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE Richard Wike and Janell Fetterolf Richard Wike is director of global attitudes research at the Pew Re- search Center in Washington, D.C. Janell Fetterolf is a research as- sociate at the Pew Research Center. Liberal democracy is experiencing a crisis of confidence. Scholars and pundits may disagree about the nature and depth of the problem, but few would argue that nothing is amiss. Commentators decry an increas- ingly familiar list of trends, including weakening civil liberties, erod- ing democratic norms, rising nativism, and growing support for par- ties and leaders whose commitment to democratic values and practices seems shaky. Progress toward democracy has been stalled or reversed in many emerging and developing nations, while several wealthy, sup- posedly “consolidated” democracies have experienced significant and unexpected setbacks. These anxieties are being driven not only by subjective observations of political dynamics, but also by a growing body of data. Indices de- signed to measure the health of democracy generally tell a similar and dispiriting story. Freedom House’s 2018 Freedom in the World report found democratic declines in 71 countries, while only 35 registered im- provements, marking the twelfth year in a row in which the organiza- tion has documented a deterioration in democracy around the world.1 The Economist Intelligence Unit likewise reported a global decline in democracy in 2017, with particularly worrisome trends for free speech and media freedom.2 Public-opinion data have also supplied plenty of reasons for concern. In these pages and elsewhere, Roberto Stefan Foa and Yascha Mounk have used World Values Survey (WVS) data to document declining sup- port for democracy and growing support for nondemocratic forms of government among the publics of established democracies.3 The recent success of populist parties in Europe has spawned numerous studies that delve into the forces underlying this antiestablishment wave. And in the Journal of Democracy Volume 29, Number 4 October 2018 © 2018 National Endowment for Democracy and Johns Hopkins University Press Richard Wike and Janell Fetterolf 137 United States, Bright Line Watch and Democracy Project surveys have found that, although Americans continue to want democracy, many are frustrated with the way the country’s political system is functioning. A recent Democracy Fund survey also showed widespread support for democracy in the United States, but revealed that notable minorities dis- play at least some fondness for authoritarian approaches.4 Recent surveys by Pew Research Center shed further light on global public opinion regarding democracy. The results suggest that democracy remains a broadly popular idea and that publics in regions around the world largely endorse democratic rights and institutions. Yet these sur- veys also find in many nations a surprisingly high degree of openness to nondemocratic modes of governing. And even though people tend to believe it is important to live in a country where democratic rights are respected, support for these rights is often tepid. Moreover, it is clear that people around the world have very different understandings of in- dividual rights and the boundaries of individual liberty. In short, liberal democracy is popular among average citizens, but their commitment to this system of government is frequently underwhelming. Representative Democracy and Its Rivals To explore these issues, Pew Research Center in 2017 conducted a 38-nation survey that asked respondents about five different approaches to governing: representative democracy, direct democracy, rule by ex- perts, military rule, and rule by a strong leader who “can make deci- sions without interference from parliament or the courts.”5 For each of these options, respondents were asked whether the approach in ques- tion would be a very good, somewhat good, somewhat bad, or very bad way of governing their country. These questions are similar to items that have been asked on previous waves of the WVS, although there are differences. For instance, the WVS asks about “democracy” in gen- eral, whereas the Pew survey included separate items on representative and direct democracy. This survey thus allows us to examine attitudes specifically toward representative democracy, as well as four potential alternatives to this system. The results show that representative democracy has wide appeal (see Figure 1 below). Across the 38 nations surveyed, a median of 78 per- cent of respondents say that “a democratic system where representa- tives elected by citizens decide what becomes law” is a very or some- what good way to govern. More than half hold this view in every nation polled. Still, the intensity of support for representative democracy is often limited. The median share of respondents who say it is a very good way to run a country is just 33 percent, and there are only five nations in which half or more give this response. Reservations about representa- tive democracy are especially common in Latin America: More than 30 138 Journal of Democracy FIGURE 1—SUPPORT FOR REPRESENTATIVE AND DIRECT DEMOCRACY Representative Democracy - % responding “a democratic Direct Democracy - % responding “a system where representatives elected by citizens decide what democratic system where citizens, not becomes law” is a very or somewhat good way to govern their elected officials, vote directly on major country. national issues to decide what becomes law” would be a very or somewhat good “Very Good”“Somewhat Good” way to govern their country. North America Total (%) Total (%) Canada 43 44 Canada87 25 42 67 CanadaU.S. 4348 4438 Canada86U.S. 2529 4238 67 Canada 43 44 Canada 25 42 EuropeSwedenU.S. 4854 3838 SwedenU.S. 15 29 42 38 U.S. 48 38 U.S. 29 38 GermanySwedenCanada 434654 444438 GermanySwedenCanada92 152532 42 42 42 57 SwedenU.S. 4854 3838 SwedenU.S. 15 29 42 38 GermanyCanadaUK 434346 414444 GermanyCanada90UK 192532 37 4242 74 Germany 46 44 Germany 32 42 Sweden 42 54 42 38 Sweden 1517 3842 NetherlandsCanadaU.S.UK 434348 414438 NetherlandsCanada84U.S.UK 192529 37 4238 56 GermanyUK 4346 4144 GermanyUK 19 32 37 42 NetherlandsSwedenFrance 23 42 54 58 42 38 NetherlandsSwedenFrance84 151728 3842 46 55 NetherlandsU.S. 4248 4238 NetherlandsU.S. 17 29 38 38 CanadaUK 29 4343 50 4144 CanadaUK 192531 37 4240 GermanySwedenFranceItaly 23 4654 58 4438 GermanySwedenFrance81Italy 152832 42 4642 74 NetherlandsFranceU.S. 23 4248 58 4238 NetherlandsFranceU.S. 172829 38 3846 GreeceItalyUK 2931 43 5047 41 Greece79ItalyUK 193139 37 40 39 71 GermanyItaly 29 46 50 44 GermanyItaly 3132 4042 SwedenFrance 2326 54 5258 38 SwedenFrance 152028 42 47 46 NetherlandsHungaryGreeceUK 31 4243 47 4241 NetherlandsHungaryGreece78UK 1719 39 3837 39 78 GermanyGreeceItaly 2931 46 5047 44 GermanyGreeceItaly 313239 404239 HungaryPolandFrance 202326 575258 HungaryPolandFrance78 202228 4747 46 67 NetherlandsHungary 26 42 52 42 NetherlandsHungary 1720 38 47 GreeceUK 31 43 4347 41 GreeceUK 19 3839 37 3739 PolandFranceSpainItaly 202329 575850 PolandFranceSpain77Italy 222831 47 4640 69 NetherlandsHungaryPoland 2026 42 5752 42 NetherlandsHungaryPoland 172022 38 4747 RussiaGreeceSpain 263131 424347 RussiaGreeceSpain74 383939 353739 75 SpainItaly 2931 4350 SpainItaly 3138 4037 PolandFrance 2023 43 5758 45 PolandFrance 222528 3947 46 AustraliaHungaryRussiaGreece 262631 425247 AustraliaHungaryRussiaGreece 20 3939 47 3539 RussiaSpainItaly 262931 424350 RussiaSpain68Italy 313839 403735 74 AustraliaVietnamPoland 203343 57 5445 AustraliaVietnamPoland 222528 394745 AustraliaHungary 26 43 52 45 AustraliaHungary 2025 4739 Asia-PacificRussiaGreece 263134 42 4752 RussiaGreece 17 3939 45 3539 IndonesiaVietnamPolandSpain 203133 5743 54 IndonesiaVietnamPolandSpain 222838 4745 37 AustraliaHungaryVietnam 263343 52 5445 AustraliaHungaryVietnam88 202528 473945 64 PhilippinesIndonesiaRussia 263234 42 5052 PhilippinesIndonesiaRussia 1723 39 4544 35 IndonesiaSpain 3134 43 52 IndonesiaSpain 17 38 45 37 VietnamPoland 192033 5957 54 VietnamPoland87 222228 475445 73 SouthPhilippinesAustralia RussiaKorea 2632 43 42 50 45 SouthPhilippinesAustralia RussiaKorea 2325 39 4439 35 PhilippinesIndonesiaSpain 323134 435052 PhilippinesIndonesiaSpain86 1723 38 4544 37 62 SouthVietnam KoreaJapan 1922 33 5955 54 SouthVietnam KoreaJapan 192228 46 5445 SouthAustralia Korea 19 43 59 45 SouthAustralia Korea 2225 3954 PhilippinesRussia 263244 42 5031 PhilippinesRussia82 23 3951 44 3525 67 IndonesiaVietnamJapanIndia 22 3334 55 5452 IndonesiaVietnamJapanIndia 171928 4546 45 SouthAustralia KoreaJapan 1922 43 5955 45 SouthAustralia KoreaJapan78 192225 463954 76 PhilippinesIsraelIndia 324144 503146 PhilippinesIsraelIndia 2423 51 3644 25 IndonesiaIndia 3444 3152 IndonesiaIndia 17 51 45 25 VietnamJapan 22 33 51 55 54 34 VietnamJapan77 1928 48 46 45 35 65 SouthPhilippinesLebanon KoreaIsrael 19 3241 59 5046 SouthPhilippinesLebanon KoreaIsrael 222423 364454 IndonesiaIsraelIndia 344144 315246 IndonesiaIsraelIndia75 1724 51 4536 25 76 LebanonTurkeyJapan 22 4351 55 37 34 LebanonTurkeyJapan 19 4853 46 3531 SouthLebanon Korea 19 51 59 34 SouthLebanon Korea 22 48 54 35 PhilippinesIsrael 22 3241 39 5046 PhilippinesIsrael 162423
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